Electronic purse application system and method thereof

ABSTRACT

An IC card arrangement wherein information which is the standard for transaction conditions such as amount information in an IC card is registered within the IC card, and further included is additional conditional information such as age, sex, etc. information for an owner of the card, or a predetermined contract destination. When a transaction is attempted using the IC card, restrictions and conditions for the owner, etc., are automatically set using the additional conditional information within the IC card.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system and method thereof using thestandard information for judging approval or disapproval and conditionsof transaction when carrying out transactions using an electronic pursesystem and more particularly to an electronic purse application systemand method thereof having electronic money information as well as ageinformation of an owner in an IC card.

2. Description of the Prior Art

At present, an alcoholic drink or cigarette vending machine uses cashfor clearing. However, when a minor attempts to buy alcoholic drinks orcigarettes, the selling cannot be stopped; therefore countermeasuressuch as preventing of selling at night are taken. In a pay TV broadcastsuch as CS broadcast or CATV, the charge for a program selected by a TVviewer is withdrawn from a bank using a credit card. Also in this case,countermeasures such as inputting of a code number are taken so as toprevent a child from watching an adult program. However, in either casementioned above, selling to a minor cannot be prevented perfectly.

On the other hand, as described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application3-92966, a perfect cashless transaction by an electronic purse systemusing an IC card has been examined. This is a system that if amountinformation which is optionally designated is written into a memory inan IC card and necessary amount information is sent from the IC card forclearing, the transaction can be completed without using cash.

As digital broadcasting and Internet advance these days, programlimiting to minors is an important problem. Also with respect to sellingof alcoholic drinks and cigarettes, selling by vending machines at nightis stopped at present. However, there is a problem imposed that sellingto minors cannot be prevented perfectly. Furthermore, it also raises aproblem for an automatic payment, n such a case as the amount of chargeis different between an adult and a child such as a railroad or busfare, or a theather entrance fee.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the difficulties ofthe prior arts mentioned above and to provide an electronic purseapplication system and method thereof for allowing appropriate use ofelectronic money automatically taking care of restrictions andconditions due to a standard information such as age, distinction ofsex, etc., of a user and guarantee and discrimination of his status whenelectronic money is to be used.

By doing this, it is attempted to automatically prevent selling to aminor and a disqualified transaction by discriminating the ageinformation and others at the time of clearing by electronic money.

To accomplish the above object, the present invention is an electronicpurse system and a method thereof having an IC card for storingelectronic money information and information for giving transactionconditions using electronic money, wherein the information for givingtransaction conditions is read from the IC card by an IC card read/writemeans, and the approval or disapproval of transaction inputted by aninput means for inputting transaction information using electronic moneyis decided on the basis of the aforementioned read information forgiving transaction conditions and the prestored standard information.When the decision is approval, the electronic money information in theIC card is updated by the charge for the transaction on the basis of theinformation for giving transaction information.

More concretely, the present invention comprises an automatictransaction terminal having an IC card for storing electronic moneyinformation, age information such as owner's age or date of birth, andothers, an IC card read/write means for reading and writing informationof the IC card, an IC card control means for controlling mounting andejection of the IC card, an input means for selecting a good, a salesamount information storage means for storing electronic moneyinformation equivalent to the amount of the good, a good pick up controlmeans for controlling picking-up of the good, and a processing means forjudging approval or disapproval of selling of the good.

Only when the age information of the owner of the IC card is equivalentto the age for which the desired good can be sold as a result ofjudgment by the processing means, the electronic money equivalent to theamount of the good is subtracted from the IC card and stored in thesales amount information storage means and the good is picked up fromthe automatic transaction terminal by the good pick up control means.

As mentioned above, according to the present invention, by storingelectronic money information as well as age information of the owner ofan IC card and others in the IC card, it is possible to discriminatethis age information at the time of transaction and clear the charge.Therefore, selling of alcoholic drinks or cigarettes to a minor can beprevented. In a pay TV broadcast, when the balance of an IC card of aviewer is shorted or the age of an owner of an IC card is under agelimit of a program, the release of scrambling can be stoppedautomatically. Furthermore, this can be applied also to clearing whenthe amount of charge is different between an adult and a child such as arailroad or bus fare or a theater entrance fee.

The foregoing and other objects, advantages, manner of operation andnovel features of the present invention will be understood from thefollowing detailed description when read in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment when the present invention is applied toclearing in a pay TV broadcast.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the operation flow on the viewer side whenthe present invention is applied to clearing in a pay TV broadcast.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment when the present invention is applied to analcoholic drink or cigarette vending machine.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the operation flow of a customer when thepresent invention is applied to a alcoholic drinks or cigarette vendingmachine.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment when the present invention is applied to avending machine for admission tickets of a theater or others.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the operation flow of a customer when thepresent invention is applied to an admission ticket vending machine.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment that age information in an IC card is updatedin the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows an example that data is sent or received between IC cardsin the present invention.

FIG. 9 shows another embodiment when the present invention is applied toclearing in a pay TV broadcast.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The embodiments of the present invention will be explained by referringto FIGS. 1 to 9.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a pay TV broadcasting system using thepresent invention, which is a system storing encryption key informationfor releasing scrambling of video, audio, and control signal and amountinformation for amount approval in an IC card. By storing ageinformation such as the age or date of birth of an owner and others inthe IC card and using age limit information which is sent in a pay TVbroadcast at the same time, the system can make the encryption keyunusable automatically when the balance is shorted or a child attemptsto watch an adult program. As a result, the scrambling is not releasedand a viewer cannot watch the program.

Numeral 1 indicates a broadcaster and management company, 2 video,audio, and control signal, 3 a scrambler, 4 a scramble key & programinformation encryptor, 5 a scramble key information storage, 6 a programinformation storage, 7 an encryption key storage, 8 a transmittingantenna, 9 a communication satellite, 10 a receiving antenna, 11 adecoder, 12 a tuner, 13 a descrambler, 14 a system controller, 15 a linecontroller, 16 an IC card controller, 17 an input unit, 18 a connector,19 an IC card, 20 a connector, 21 a scramble key & program informationdecryptor, 22 an encryption key storage, 23 an amount approvalprocessor, 24 an amount information storage, 25 an ID informationstorage, and 26 an age information storage.

In this embodiment, information is transferred to a viewer from abroadcaster using a communication satellite. However, broadcasting byground waves such as VHF and UHF or broadcasting using cables such asCATV may be used.

Firstly, a broadcaster and management company will be explained indetail. Video, audio, and control signal to be transferred to a viewerare outputted from a data bank 2 and encrypted by the scrambler 3. Inthis case, each signal is encrypted by the scramble key stored in thescramble key information storage 5 according to a predetermined rule.

Together with this scramble key, program information such as a programguide and contract information stored in the program information storage6 is encrypted by the scramble key & program information encryptor 4.Also in this case, program information is encrypted by the encryptionkey stored in the encryption key storage 7 according to a predeterminedrule in the case of encryption. When an age limit is included in aprogram to be sent, the information on age limit is encrypted as theaforementioned program information.

These encrypted data are sent to the communication satellite 9 by thetransmitting antenna 8 and resent to a viewer from the communicationsatellite thereafter.

Next, the viewer side will be explained in detail. When a viewer insertsthe IC card 19 into the decoder 11, he can receive services. Firstly,various data sent from the communication satellite are received by thereceiving antenna 10 and supplied to the decoder 11. Among them, dataencrypted by the scrambler 3 is processed by the tuner 12, while dataencrypted by the scramble key & program information encryptor 4 isprocessed by the scramble key & program information decryptor 21 in theIC card.

In the case of processing by the decryptor 21, data is decrypted by theencryption key stored in the encryption key storage 22 according to apredetermined rule. This encryption key is managed by the managementcompany in a uniform manner, so that a viewer who is not under contractwith the management company cannot decrypt data by the decryptor 21.

Among data decrypted by the scramble key & program information decryptor21, the scramble key information is supplied to the descrambler 13 (A1),while data such as a program guide and contract information is suppliedto the system controller 14 (A2) and then outputted from the decoder(B4) and displayed on the TV screen. When there is age limit informationin a program, this data is also supplied to the system controller 14(A2).

When the viewer chooses a program to be watched from the program guideand selects it by the input unit 17, only the program selected by theviewer is extracted by the tuner 12 by a control signal outputted fromthe system controller 14 (B1) and data is supplied to the descrambler13. This data is encrypted by the scramble key according to a fixed ruleand outputted from the decoder 11, so that the viewer can take pleasurein the selected program on television.

Next, charge approval for program reception will be explained. There isthe amount information storage 24 in the IC card 19 and when the vieweragrees with payment from the input unit 17 when the program is selected,the amount of charge is automatically withdrawn from the storage 24 andthe electronic money information is sent to the management company andbank via the amount approval processor 23, the system controller 14, andthe line controller 15.

When the balance in the IC card is shorted at the time of chargeapproval, a control signal is supplied to the system controller 14 fromthe amount approval processor 23. The data such as an age limit of theselected program is supplied to the system controller 14 from thescramble key & program information decryptor 21 (A2) and the ageinformation of the owner of the IC card stored in the age informationstorage 26 is supplied to the system controller 14 from the amountapproval processor 23 at the same time. Therefore, when the balance inthe IC card is shorted or a program selected by a viewer is under agelimit, decryption by the descrambler 13 is automatically prohibited by acontrol signal (B2) outputted from the system controller 14 and theviewer cannot watch the program. In this case, since the systemcontroller 14 outputs the control signal (B3), the IC card 19 isautomatically ejected by the card controller 16 and the processing ends.

FIG. 2 shows the operation flow of the viewer in the aforementionedembodiment. Discharge approval and age limit mentioned above will beexplained in detail using it.

When the viewer inserts the IC card 19 into the decoder 11 (Step 101),the program menu is displayed on the TV screen (Step 102). Thereafter,when the viewer selects a program to be watched (Step 103), the amountof charge is displayed on the TV screen (Step 104). When the vieweragrees with payment of the charge (Step 105), the amount of balance inthe IC card is read (Step 106). Next, whether the amount of charge canbe paid from the amount of balance or not is judged by the amountapproval processor 23 (Step 107). If payment is impossible, a display ofshortage of balance is outputted from the system controller 14 (Step115) and then the IC card is ejected (Step 113) and the processing ends.

On the other hand, when payment is possible, the age information in theIC card is read next (Step 108). Thereafter, whether the age of theviewer is under age limit of the selected program or not is judged bythe system controller 14 (Step 109). If the age is not under age limit,the balance in the IC card is updated (Step 110) and then the data isdecrypted by the descrambler 13 and the scrambling is released (Step111). If the age is under age limit, an indication that audience isprohibited due to an age limit is displayed on the TV screen (Step 116),and then the IC card is ejected (Step 113), and the processing ends.

When the program ends, a display of whether audience is to be continuedor not is outputted on the TV screen (Step 112). If audience is to becontinued, the program menu is displayed again (Step 102). If audienceis not to be continued, the IC card is ejected (Step 113) and theprocessing ends.

As mentioned above, in this embodiment, the age information of the ownerof the IC card as well as the encryption key information for releasingthe scrambling of video, audio, and control signal and the amountinformation for charge approval are stored in one IC card, so that whenthe balance is shorted or the age of the owner of the IC card is underage limit of the program, the release of scrambling can be stoppedautomatically.

In the aforementioned embodiment, the amount of charge is sent orreceived between the IC card of a viewer and the IC card of themanagement company or bank. However, it is possible to set an IC card inthe decoder 11 and store sent electronic money in the decoder once. Theage limit information of the selected program is sent as programinformation. However, it may be added to the output signal of the video,audio, and control signal bank 2. In this case, the system has aconstitution that only the age limit information among the dataoutputted from the descrambler 13 is supplied to the system controller14 and the other video, audio, and control signal are stored in a bufferonce and then outputted from the decoder 11. Therefore, when audience isprohibited due to an age limit, by stopping the operation of the bufferby a control signal from the system controller 14, the output from thedecoder 11 can be stopped.

Next, an embodiment of a vending machine using the present invention isshown in FIG. 3. Also in this case, a charge is approved by the amountinformation in the IC card. In an alcoholic drink or cigarette vendingmachine, by using age information of a card owner stored in an IC card,selling to a minor can be stopped automatically.

Numeral 30 indicates an IC card, 31 an amount information storage, 32 anID information storage, 33 an age information storage, 34 an amountapproval processor, 35 a connector, 36 a vending machine, 37 a displayunit, 38 an input unit, 39 a connector, 40 an amount approval processor,41 a line controller, 42 a card controller, 43 a sales amount storage,and 44 a goods pick up controller.

An example of an alcoholic drinks vending machine will be explainedhereunder. When a customer inserts the IC card 30 into the vendingmachine 36 and selects a desired good from the input unit 38, the amountof charge is withdrawn from the amount information storage 31 in the ICcard and the electronic money information is stored in the sales amountstorage 43 in the vending machine. Thereafter, the sales amount is sentto the management company and bank via the line controller 41.

When the balance in the IC card is shorted at the time of chargeapproval or the age information stored in the age information storage 33is under age limit of a good, the control signal (A2) is supplied to thegoods pick up controller 44, so that the goods pick up is automaticallystopped. If this occurs, an indication of transaction stop is displayedon the display unit 37 and the control signal (A1) is also supplied tothe card controller 42 at the same time, so that the IC card 30 isautomatically ejected from the card controller 42 and the processingends.

FIG. 4 shows the operation flow of the customer in the aforementionedembodiment. Discharge approval and age limit mentioned above will beexplained in detail using it.

When the customer inserts the IC card 30 into the vending machine 36(Step 201) and selects a good to be purchased from the input unit 38(Step 202), the amount of charge is displayed on the display unit 37(Step 203). When the customer agrees with payment of the charge (Step204), the amount of balance in the IC card is read (Step 205).Thereafter, whether the amount of charge can be paid from the readamount of balance or not is judged by the amount approval processor 40(Step 206). If payment is impossible, a display of shortage of balanceis outputted (Step 214) and then the IC card is ejected (Step 212) andthe processing ends.

On the other hand, when payment is possible, the age information in theIC card is read next (Step 207). Next, whether the age of the customeris under age limit of the selected good or not is judged by the amountapproval processor 40 (Step 208). If the age is not under age limit, thebalance in the IC card is updated (Step 209) and the purchased good ispicked up (Step 210). If a good is to be purchased continuouslythereafter (Step 211), the customer selects the good once again (Step202). If no good is to be purchased, the IC card is ejected (Step 212)and the processing ends. If the age is under age limit, an indicationthat audience is prohibited due to an age limit is displayed (Step 215),and then the IC card is ejected (Step 212), and the processing ends.

By doing this, for example, in an alcoholic drink vending machine, whenthe balance is shorted or a minor attempts to buy an alcoholic drink,the selling is automatically stopped.

Another embodiment of a vending machine using the present invention isshown in FIG. 5 next. Numeral 44 indicates a ticket issuer.

An admission ticket in a theater or recreation ground is different inthe amount of charge between a child and an adult. The present inventioncan automatically discriminate a visitor and collect the charge. In thisembodiment, the IC card 30 is inserted into the vending machine 36 andthe amount of charge is cleared. However, also in a system that just byusing and passing a non-contact IC card through the gate, the amount ofcharge is cleared, the present invention can be executed.

FIG. 6 shows the operation flow of the customer in the aforementionedembodiment. Discharge approval mentioned above will be explained indetail using it.

When the customer inserts the IC card 30 into the vending machine 36(Step 301), the age information 33 in the IC card is read first (Step302). The amount approval processor 40 calculates the amount of chargeto be paid by the card owner from the age information and displays theamount of charge on the display unit 37 (Step 303). When the customeragrees with payment of the displayed charge (Step 304), the amount ofbalance in the IC card is read next (Step 305). Thereafter, whether theamount of charge can be paid from the read amount of balance or not isjudged by the amount approval processor 40 (Step 306). If payment isimpossible, a display of shortage of balance is outputted (Step 311) andthen the IC card is ejected (Step 309) and the processing ends.

On the other hand, when payment is possible, the balance in the IC cardis updated (Step 307) and an admission ticket is issued (Step 308).Thereafter, the IC card is ejected (Step 309) and the processing ends.

In the aforementioned embodiment, only one ticket of the owner of the ICcard can be purchased. If a plurality of tickets are to be purchased, itis realized by designating the number of tickets from the input unit 38.

Next, an example of updating of the age information in the IC card willbe explained by referring to FIG. 7. In the age information storage inthe IC card, a concrete age of the owner or information such as teens ortwenties is stored. However, to protect the privacy of the owner, thepresent invention does not store the information of date of birth. Onthe other hand, to open a bank account, individual information such asdate of birth is registered in the bank, so that in the embodiment shownin FIG. 7, the age information in the card is compared and updated atthe time of access to the bank.

An example of a case that electronic money is paid in an IC card will beexplained. When a customer inserts the card into the ATM of the bank(Step 401) or accesses the bank using the telephone line, a code numberis inputted first (Step 402) and the inputted code number is displayed(Step 403). When the customer inputs the amount to be withdrawn from thebank account (Step 404) next, the amount is displayed (Step 405).

Then, the aforementioned code number is compared with the code numberregistered in the bank (S406). When they are not matched with eachother, the IC card is ejected (Step 411) and the processing ends. Whenthey are matched with each other, whether withdrawing from the accountis possible or not is judged (Step 407). When payment is possible, thebalance in the IC card and the balance in the bank account are updated(Step 408) and then the age information in the IC card is read (Step409). On the other hand, when payment is impossible, an indication thatthe account balance is shorted is displayed (Step 413) and then the ICcard is ejected (Step 411) and the processing ends.

When the age information in the IC card is read, comparison with theinformation of date of birth of the owner registered in the bank starts.Only when correction is necessary, the age information in the IC card isupdated (Step 410). Thereafter, the IC card is ejected (Step 411) andthe processing ends.

By doing this, the age information of the owner in the IC card iscorrected only when the customer accesses the bank. It is possible tostore the information of date of birth in an IC card and to compare andupdate the age always when a customer accesses a device containing aclock such as an ATM in a bank or a POS terminal in a store.

On the other hand, when the age information in an IC card is madeupdatable as mentioned above, it may be considered that the IC card isfalsified dishonestly. Therefore, the age information in an IC card ismade unupdatable. However, it is possible to set a term to the IC carditself and update the age information of the owner at the time ofupdating of the card.

Next, an example of transmitting and receiving of data between IC cardswill be explained by referring to FIG. 8. In this case, the basic datasuch as the ID No. and owner's name and age and amount data such as anamount and encryption information (encryption key) are stored in each ICcard. When electronic money is sent or received between IC cards, theaforementioned basic data is exchanged between the paying side and thereceiving side first and the customer is ascertained (A). Thereafter,the information such as the remittance of electronic money is encryptedusing the encryption key and the encrypted data is sent and receivedbetween the paying side and the receiving side (B).

As mentioned above, when an amount is to be sent or received, the ageinformation of an owner is also transmitted always, so that age limitand charge discrimination can be executed automatically on the basis ofthis age information. It is possible to add the age information to theID number itself of the IC card without storing the ID number and agedata separately as mentioned above.

Finally, another storing method of age information will be explained byreferring to FIG. 9. In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 8, the ageinformation of a card owner is stored in the IC card and a customeraccesses the IC card and compares the age at the time of transaction.However, it is also possible to store the age information of a cardowner in the bank or management company and compare the age informationby accessing the bank or management company as required at the time oftransaction. In the pay TV broadcasting system shown in FIG. 9, the ageinformation of a card owner is supplied to the line controller 15 fromthe bank or management company via the line. Thereafter, this ageinformation is supplied to the system controller 14, so that theoperation of the descrambler 13 can be stopped as required.

In this case, the individual information of the owner is not stored inthe IC card, so that the privacy of the card owner can be protected whenthe IC card is lost. Furthermore, the information of the card owner canbe changed any time, so that it is possible to add various data inaddition to the age information of the card owner, prevent dishonestuse, for example, in case of card loss, and stop the use of the cardimmediately when a person put on the blacklist attempts to use the card.It is also possible to store the card use status of every card owner inthe bank or management company and thus give various premium services toa customer using the card frequently.

It is also possible to store the kind of license held by a user and thedistinction of sex in place of the age information. By doing this, evena good requiring a specific license for purchase can be transacted by anIC card.

According to the present invention, when electronic money information aswell as age information of a card owner are stored in an IC card, it ispossible to discriminate this age information at the time of transactionand clear the charge. Therefore, in a pay TV broadcast, when the balancein the IC card of a viewer is shorted or the age of an owner of an ICcard is under age limit of a program, the release of scrambling can bestopped automatically. Selling of alcoholic drinks or cigarettes to aminor can be also prevented. Furthermore, the present invention can beapplied to clearing of a railroad or bus fare or a theater entrance fee.

Furthermore, by use of status discrimination (guarantee) information inaddition to age information, prevention of dishonest use in case of cardloss and new individual services by the bank and management company canbe made possible.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An electronic purse application systemcomprising: an IC card which stores electronic money information andnon-age/non-birth-date ID data and encryption key information fordecrypting encrypted data which constitute at least one of a video,audio, and data signal; a receiver which receives transmitted encryptedinformation and corresponding standard age information for judgingapproval or disapproval of selling encrypted digital information data; aline controller which transmits said non-age/non-birth-date ID datastored in said IC card to a center and receives age informationcorresponding to transmitted said non-age/non-birth-date ID data; aprocessor which judges approval or disapproval of selling of saidencrypted data on a basis of said age information received by said linecontroller and said standard age information received by said receiver,and balance of said money information stored in said IC card and theprice information of said encrypted data, and subtracts a selling priceof purchased information data from said electronic money information ofsaid IC card; and a decoder which decrypts said encrypted data usingsaid encryption key data stored in said IC card when said processordecides approval of selling of said encrypted data.
 2. An electronicpurse application device using an IC card which stores electronic moneyinformation and non-age/non-birth-date ID data and encryption keyinformation for decrypting encrypted data which constitute at least oneof a video, audio, and data signal, said device comprising: a receiverwhich receives transmitted encrypted information and correspondingstandard age information for judging approval or disapproval of sellingencrypted digital information data; a line controller which transmitssaid non-age/non-birth-date ID data stored in said IC card to a centerand receives age information corresponding to transmitted ID data; aprocessor which judges approval or disapproval of selling of saidencrypted data on a basis of said age information received by said linecontroller and said standard age information stored received by saidreceiver, and balance of said money information stored in said IC cardand the price information of said encrypted data, and subtracts aselling price of purchased information data from said electronic moneyinformation of said IC card; and a decoder which decrypts said encrypteddata using said encryption key data stored in said IC card when saidprocessor decides approval of selling of said encrypted data.
 3. Anelectronic purse application according to claim 2, wherein said standardinformation is age information indicating approval or disapproval ofviewing of predetermined program, and when said age information receivedby said line controller indicates an age capable of viewing of saidprogram, said processor substracts a price for viewing from saidelectronic money information of said IC card.
 4. An electronic purseapplication device according to claim 2, wherein said encrypted dataconstitute a program transmitted from a broadcasting station, andwherein said standard information data is transmitted with encrypteddata from said broadcasting station.
 5. An IC card system comprising: anIC card which stores non-age/non-birth-date ID data and encryption keyinformation for decrypting encrypted data which constitute at lest oneof a video, audio, and data signal; a receiver which receivestransmitted encrypted information and corresponding standard ageinformation for judging approval or disapproval of selling encrypteddigital information data; a line controller which transmits saidnon-age/non-birth-date ID data stored in said IC card to a center andreceives age information corresponding to transmitted saidnon-age/non-birth-date ID data; a processor which judges approval ordisapproval of selling of said encrypted data on a basis of said ageinformation received by said line controller and said standard ageinformation received by said receiver; and a decoder which decrypts saidencrypted data using said encryption key data stored in said IC cardwhen said processor decides approval of selling of said encrypted data.6. An IC card device using an IC card which storesnon-age/non-birth-date ID data and encryption key information fordecrypting encrypted data which constitute at least one of a video,audio, and data signal, said device comprising: a receiver whichreceives transmitted encrypted information and corresponding standardage information for judging approval or disapproval of selling encrypteddigital information data; a line controller which transmits saidnon-age/non-birth-date ID data stored in said IC card to a center andreceives age information corresponding to transmitted ID data; aprocessor which judges approval or disapproval of selling of saidencrypted data on a basis of said age information received by said linecontroller and said standard age information received by said receiver;and a decoder which decrypts said encrypted data using said encryptionkey data stored in said IC card when said processor decides approval ofselling of said encrypted data.
 7. An IC card application according toclaim 6, wherein said standard information is age information indicatingapproval or disapproval of viewing of predetermined program, and whensaid age information received by said line controller indicates an agecapable of viewing of said program.
 8. An IC card application deviceaccording to claim 6, wherein said encrypted data constitute a programtransmitted from a broadcasting station, and wherein said standardinformation data is transmitted with encrypted data from saidbroadcasting station.